FRISCO, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University men's golf team placed three players on the first team, highlighted by Golfer of the Year Alvaro Arizabaleta, and head coach Tim Baldwin was named the league's Coach of the Year as the 2009-10 Southland Conference Golf Team was announced Monday by the league office.

Philipp Westermann, also a first-team pick, was selected by the league's coaches and sports information directors as Freshman of the Year, with 2009 Golfer of the Year Cedric Scotto repeating as a first-team selection.

Arizabaleta, who joins Scotto as the second consecutive Lion to claim medalist and Golfer-of-the-Year honors, followed a solid regular season by claiming individual medalist honors at the Southland Conference Championships last week at Springfield's Carter Plantation. The Cali, Columbia, native, shot rounds of 72, 67 and 69 to finish with 208 total strokes, which earned him an eight-stroke victory and helped the Lions to their third league title since 1998.

The freshman had a 72.67 scoring average in 30 rounds. The conference tournament was his first individual win of the season, but Arizabaleta finished in the top five two other times, in the top 10 one other time and in the top 20 an additional three times.

Arizabaleta joins Scotto and former Lion Jacques Chevallier (2000) as the league's Player of the Year.

Westermann, a native of Pinneburg, Germany, led the conference with a 72.10 stroke average in 21 rounds this season after joining the Lions at the start of the spring semester. He finished in the top five in all but one of his seven tournaments this season, and won his first collegiate tournament, the UTSA/Oak Hills Invitational, in February. Westermann, who is the ranked No. 26 nationally and is the top freshman in the GolfStat Cup standings, tied for fourth in last week's conference tournament.

Scotto, the 2009 conference champion and a first-team all-conference selection, who tied for seventh this year. Scotto won twice this season, claiming victories at the Squire Creek Classic in October and at the Bulldog Classic in March.

Baldwin, a former Southeastern standout and the Lions' coach since 1988, picked up his third coach of year honor and his first since the 2000 season. He also won the award in 1998, the school's first year in the Southland Conference. He also led the Lions to the conference champions both previous times, winning the event for a third time in 13 years as a Southland member.

UT Arlington junior Wes Worster was named the conference newcomer of the year.

After transferring to UTA from Lon Morris Junior College prior to the season, Worster, a native of Durban, South Africa, had a scoring average of 74.81 strokes. In 32 rounds in 11 tournaments, he had one top-five finish to go with another top-10 finish and two others in the top 20. Worster tied for 31st at the conference tournament last week.

Central Arkansas junior Gideon Pienaar and UT Arlington junior Zack Fischer joined Arizabaleta, Scotto and Westermann in earning first-team honors. Pienaar, also a first-team all-conference selection a season ago, finished sixth at the conference championship this season and led the Bears with a 72.58 scoring average. He finished in the top 20 in all but one tournament this season and won the Grover Page Classic in March.

Fischer was a second-team selection last season and had the conference's second-best stroke average this season at 72.18. He tied for 29th at this year's Southland tournament, but had nine top-20 finishes. His tournament win came in November at the Carter Plantation Intercollegiate.

Southeastern placed three players on the all-conference teams, which was the second-highest total. UCA lead all Southland schools with four selections, including Pienaar on the first team, junior Steven Lecuyer on the second team and sophomores Antonio Costa and Josh Sims on the third team.

Lecuyer, a third-team selection in 2009, tied for second as an individual this year after finishing eight strokes behind the medalist. He recorded nine top-20 finishes this season. Costa and Sims earned their first all-conference selections after their respective finishes of 17th and 23rd and the conference tournament.

Lamar, Sam Houston State and UTA each placed two players on the all-conference teams and Stephen F. Austin and Texas State each placed one.

The second team consisted of Lecuyer, SHSU junior Scott Kelly, Lamar freshman Pierre-Alexis Rolland, SHSU senior Fergal Rafferty and UTA senior Bryce Easton.

Last season, Kelly was a third-team selection and Rafferty was a first-team selection. Kelly had nine top-20 finishes this season and won the Bearkat Classic in October.

Joining Costa and Sims on the third team were SFA junior Kyle Robbins, Lamar senior Hugues Joannes and Texas State senior Michael Carnes.

Five players earned honorable mention all-conference honors after receiving votes from 25 percent of the voting panel. Those players were Worster and freshman Hunter Brown from UTA, UTSA senior Emiliano Martinez and freshman Nicko Dodd and UCA junior Jad Sinclair.

2009-10 Men's Golf All-Southland Conference Selections
First Team, School, Class, Hometown
Alvaro Arizabaleta, Southeastern Louisiana, Fr., Cali, Columbia
Philipp Westermann, Southeastern Louisiana, Fr., Pinneburg, Germany
Gideon Pienaar, Central Arkansas, Jr., Pongola, South Africa
Cedric Scotto, Southeastern Louisiana, Jr., Albi, France
Zack Fischer, UT Arlington, Jr., Texarkana, Texas

Second Team, School, Class, Hometown
Steven Lecuyer, Central Arkansas, Jr., Edmonton, Alberta
Scott Kelly, Sam Houston State, Jr., Kingwood, Texas
Pierre-Alexis Rolland, Lamar, Fr., Wauvre, Belgium
Fergal Rafferty, Sam Houston State, Sr., Carrickmore, Omagh, Northern Ireland
Bryce Easton, UT Arlington, Sr., Durban, South Africa

Third Team, School, Class, Hometown
Kyle Robbins, Stephen F. Austin, Jr., Southlake, Texas
Hugues Joannes, Lamar, Sr., Brussels, Belgium
Antonio Costa, Central Arkansas, So., Villa Rucahue, Chile
Josh Sims, Central Arkansas, So., Wirral, England
Michael Carnes, Texas State, Sr., New Braunfels, Texas

Honorable Mention
Emiliano Martinez, UTSA; Hunter Brown, UT Arlington; Wes Worster, UT Arlington; Jad Sinclair, Central Arkansas; Nicko Dodd, UTSA.

Player of the Year: Alvaro Arizabaleta, Southeastern Louisiana
Newcomer of the Year: Wes Worster, UT Arlington
Freshman of the Year: Philipp Westermann, Southeastern Louisiana
Coach of the Year: Tim Baldwin, Southeastern Louisiana